Corey Brown homers in fifth consecutive game to set Syracuse Chiefs record

Corey Brown had slugged a home run in four straight games prior to the Syracuse Chiefs game against the Columbus Clippers on Friday night.

But Brown, a 26-year-old outfielder, had no idea that he needed one more dinger to break the Syracuse Chiefs all-time record for home runs in consecutive games.

No one had told him idea prior to his first at-bat of the game when he flied out to leadoff the first inning. He had not a clue in the third inning when he drove the ball off the centerfield wall, missing a home run by a couple feet.

He struck out in his next two at-bats.

But in the bottom of the eighth inning, Brown crushed an offering from Columbus reliever Frank Herrmann halfway up the batter’s background beyond the centerfield fence.

“I actually didn’t know until they made the announcement,’’ Brown said, referring to the Alliance Bank Stadium’s public address announcer. “In a way, it’s probably good that they didn’t tell me because maybe I would’ve gone out there trying to hit it.’’

In homering for the fifth straight game, Brown broke the Chiefs record, separating himself from seven other players who had homered in four straight games. The list of seven includes Mack Jones, a Syracuse Chiefs Wall of Famer who turned the trick back in 1964 and John-Ford Griffin, who was the most recent Syracuse player to do it during the 2005 season.

“It’s definitely an honor and I feel very blessed,’’ Brown said.

Despite Brown’s record-breaking homer, the Chiefs lost 9-6 as the Columbus hitters connected on four home runs of their own.

The Chiefs (23-25) missed out on a chance to level their record at .500, which would have been a remarkable achievement after stumbling out of the gate with three wins in their first 16 games.

After that 3-13 start to the season, Syracuse had gone 20-11 prior to Friday, including a recent stretch of 13 wins in 17 games.

But even though Syracuse failed to make it to .500, the Chiefs have breathed life back into their season.

“We’re really in a good place,’’ Syracuse manager Tony Beasley. “The chemistry’s really good. We had a good group. We expect to win every night. We’ve kind of come together. We made a lot of mistakes early in the season that cost us some ball games, but it seems like we’re coming together on all fronts.’’

Brown has been leading the way, literally, from the leadoff spot. Ironically, Brown is far from the prototypical leadoff hitter. His entire minor-league career has been marked by a high strikeout rate. He’s had twice as many strikeouts as walks at nearly every stop in his 5-year minor league career. Last year, he struck out 134 times in 124 games for Syracuse.

“I’ve never really been a leadoff hitter,’’ Brown said. “My strikeouts have always been high.’’

This season, though, Beasley put Brown at the top of the batting order right from the first game of the season and he’s been in that same spot in each of the Chiefs’ 48 games.

Brown is hitting .294 with 12 home runs. He’s struck out 41 times, but he’s also drawn 31 walks.
And in his last five games, Brown has gone 11-for-28 with five homers and 11 runs batted in. And Beasley has no intention of moving Brown into the middle of the order just because he’s launching home runs at a record rate.

“He’s fine right there (in the leadoff spot),’’ Beasley said. “He’s comfortable there. “He’s been swinging the bat well. I don’t see the need to mess with him there.’’

This season has been part revival and part redemption for Brown. The Washington Nationals acquired him a year ago in a trade for Josh Willingham.

For the first four months of the 2011 season, Brown floundered with the Chiefs. He was hitting right around .200 in late July.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself being part of a trade and being on the 40-man,’’ Brown said. “I wanted to come here and do well. Once I started to struggled, I kinda lost that confidence. It’s tough out here if you don’t have confidence.’’

Brown found his hitting stroke in August. He raised his average to .235 and earned a September call-up to Washington. He made his major-league debut on Sept. 6.

But within a week he got an infection in his right knee.

“I got a staph infection about month before in Syracuse,’’ Brown said. “They gave me some antibiotics and it went away. It came back in D.C. in September.’’

The Nationals’ team doctor kept Brown in D.C. as the Nationals headed on a road-trip to New York. The infection turned out to be the antibiotic-resistant MRSA strain.
Brown underwent surgery to remove the infection.

“It was a little ugly,’’ Brown said. “They got me in there and did the surgery. It’s dangerous and you don’t want to mess with it.’’

After his struggles in Triple-A and the season-ending surgery, Brown was taken off Washington’s 40-man roster. Any team could have claimed him. None did. Brown was not fazed by the move
or the lack of interest.

“It bothered me a little bit, but I understand,’’ Brown said. “But I had been playing well when my season ended and I did everything I could in the off-season to have it carry over.’’

Brown has done just that. His 12 home runs rank third in the International League. He’s just two shy of his 2011 season total.

“He’s relaxed and he’s having fun,’’ Beasley said. “He’s just playing the game of baseball.’’